Conventionally, in compact disks in which information is stored (hereinafter referred to as “CD”), a CD having a true round shape with a diameter of 12 cm or 8 cm is defined as a standard size. In a disk player for reading out information on CDs, a disk player is designed to have a size corresponding to the standard size.
The aforementioned disk players can be roughly classified into several types. Known as one of the types is a disk player P that employs a tray-type disk loading device equipped with a disk-transferring tray 71 having a 12 cm-CD placing dented portion 72 and an 8 cm-CD placing dented portion 73 formed in the 12 cm-CD placing dented portion 72 (see Japanese Unexamined Laid-open Patent Publication H7-50054A).
As shown in FIG. 16, this disk player P is provided with a cabinet 80 and a disk-transferring tray 71 that can be ejected from and inserted into the cabinet 80. In this disk player P, when the disk-transferring tray 71 is inserted into the cabinet 80 with a CD (C) placed on the 12 cm-CD placing dented portion 72 or the 8 cm-CD placing dented portion 73, the CD (C) is automatically transferred to the stored information readable position in the cabinet 80.
In order to attain the above, as shown in FIGS. 17 and 19 to 21, in the cabinet 80, a chassis 82 of a drive unit 81 which holds an optical pickup 86 and a disk turntable 83 is pivotably supported at its rear end portion about a horizontal axis 90. The disk turntable 83 equipped with a magnetic disk chuck 84 is provided at the tip portion of the chassis 82, while an iron metal disk clamper 85 horizontally rotatable is provided above the turntable 83. In the state in which the tray is ejected as shown in FIGS. 16 and 17, the chassis 82 is inclined downward (see FIG. 19).
As shown in FIG. 18, as soon as the disk-transferring tray 71 is completely inserted in the cabinet 80 from the ejected state, the chassis 82 inclined downward is pivoted upward on the horizontal axis 90 as a pivotal axis. Then, the disk chuck 84 is inserted into the central aperture Ca of the CD (C) on the disk-transferring tray 71 from the lower side thereof, and the disk chuck 84 is attracted to the disk clamper 85, i.e., the so-called chucking is performed. By this chucking, the CD (C) is pressed against the disk clamper 85 and pinched by and between the disk clamper 85 and the disk turntable 83, and therefore the CD (C) is rotated together with the disk turntable 83 by the disk turntable driving motor 88. The height position of this disk turntable 83 at the time of revolution is set such that the lower surface of the CD (C) is slightly lifted above the upper surface of the 12 cm-CD disposing dented portion 72 so as not to cause the mutual contact during the revolution.
To the chassis 82, the optical pickup 86 is movably provided via a pair of right and left guide shafts 87 and 87 disposed along the longitudinal direction of the chassis 82. Since this optical pickup 86 is moved in close vicinity to the lower surface of the CD (C), a cutout 74 is formed in the 8 cm-CD placing dented portion 73 of the disk-transferring tray 71 extending from the central portion to the end portion of the loading direction side.
Recently, non-standard sized CDs, such as rectangular card shaped CDs (hereinafter referred to as “card-type CD” and a non-standard sized CD including the “card-type CD” will be referred to as “deformed CD”), start to appear because of the attractive appearance thereof. In a disk player using the aforementioned tray-type disk loading device, however, such a card-type CD requires an adapter as proposed by-Japanese Unexamined Laid-open Patent Public No. 2000-11573A because of the following reasons. Although a CD is required to be transferred to the appropriate position in the cabinet 80 as mentioned above, the correct positioning of a deformed CD is hardly performed by the aforementioned disk-transferring tray 71.
In short, the adapter is formed into an annular shape and provided with an external periphery having the same diameter as that of a 12 cm-CD, a central dented portion for fitting a card-type CD and a holding means for maintaining the fitted state. The adapter rotates together with the CD.
At the time of using the adapter, however, it is required to operate certain CD holding means equipped to the adapter in order to fix the CD to the adapter. This is troublesome operation in cases where a number of deformed CDs have to be loaded in the disk player repeatedly in a short time.
Furthermore, in adapters equipped with holding means, an adapter which can fix a CD easily is high in manufacturing cost, while an adapter which is low in manufacturing cost requires complicated CD fixing operations.
The present invention was made in view of the aforementioned technical background, and aims to provide an optical disk adapter which is capable of performing a predetermined positioning of a deformed CD in a disk-transferring tray with a very simple operation, simple in structure and easy in manufacture